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1.2.5.Circumpositions

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We conclude our discussion of the formal classification of adpositions by examining circumpositions. We will see that clauses with a predicatively used circumpositional phrase are easy to confuse with clauses with particle verbs that select a PP-complement. Therefore, we will develop some tests that can be used to distinguish the two constructions.

I. General introduction
II. Circumpositions versus PP + particle combinations: five tests
III. Application of the tests

[+] I. General introduction

Circumpositions are complex adpositions that may occur discontinuously, that is, of which some part precedes and some part follows the complement of the adpositional phrase. Some examples are given in (105), in which the two parts of the circumposition are given in italics. The first part of the circumposition is an element that can also be used as a regular adposition. This can but need not be the case for the second part; whereas door in (105b) can also be used as an adposition, this is not the case for heen in (105a).

105

a.	dat	Jan over	het hek	heen	sprong.
	that	Jan over	the gate	heen	jumped
	'that Jan jumped over the gate.'

b.	dat	Marie	Peter	tussen	twee lessen	door	belde.
	that	Marie	Peter	between	two lessons	through	called
	'that Marie called Peter in between two lessons.'

Generally speaking, circumpositions have a spatial meaning, as in (105a), but (105b) shows that there are also temporal instances; cf. Section 1.3.2, sub III, for more discussion. Below we restrict ourselves to spatial circumpositional phrases, which can be used to indicate both a (change of) location and a direction; see Section 1.1.2.2 for these notions. This is clear from the fact that they can occur as the complement of both locational verbs and verbs of motion, as in (106a&b), and as the complements of verbs of traversing, as in (106c); see Section 1.3.1.4 for more discussion. See Claessen & Zwart (2010) for a detailed discussion of the semantics of circumpositions with heen.

106

a.	Het kleed	ligt over de tafel	heen.	location
	the tablecloth	lies over the table	heen
	'The tablecloth is lying over the table.'

b.	Jan legt	het kleed	over de tafel	heen.	change of location
	Jan lays	the tablecloth	over the table	heen
	'Jan is putting the tablecloth over the table.'

c.	Jan is over de brug	heen	gereden.	direction
	Jan is over the bridge	heen	driven
	'Jan has driven over the bridge.'

Another special case that we will not discuss here is the phrase op XP na in (107) with the specialized meaning “apart from XP”, which is only used if some universally quantified or negative noun phrase is present in the clause.

107

a.	Ik	heb	alles	gelezen	op	de inleiding	na.
	I	have	everything	read	op	the introduction	na
	'Iʼve read everything apart from the introduction.'

b.	Ik	heb	op Peter na	niemand	gezien.
	I	have	op from na	nobody	seen
	'Apart from Peter Iʼve seen nobody.'

Table 10 provides a list of elements that are traditionally assumed to be circumpositions, classified by means of their second part, and provides an example of each case. The discussion of circumpositions in this chapter will take this table as its point of departure.

Table 10: Circumpositions classified according to their second member

2nd part	circumposition	example
aan	achter .. aan	achter de optocht aan lopen 'to walk after the parade'
	tegen .. aan	tegen de deur aan lopen 'to walk/bump into the door'
af	van .. af	van het dak af springen 'to jump from the roof'
	op .. af	op iemand af lopen 'to walk towards someone'
door	onder .. door	onder de brug door lopen 'to walk under the bridge'
	tussen .. door	tussen de bomen door lopen 'to walk between the trees'
heen	door .. heen	door het stof heen lopen 'to run through the dust'
	?langs .. heen	?langs de jongen heen lopen 'to walk past the boy'
	om .. heen	om het huis heen lopen 'to walk around the house'
	over .. heen	over het heen springen 'to jump over the gate'
in	tegen .. in	tegen de stroom in lopen 'to walk against the current'
	tussen .. in	tussen twee meisjes in zitten 'to sit between two girls'
langs	achter .. langs	achter het huis langs lopen 'to walk along the back of the house'
	boven .. langs	boven de brug langs lopen 'to walk above (along) the bridge'
	onder ..langs	onder de brug langs lopen 'to walk down (along) the bridge'
	voor .. langs	voor het huis langs lopen 'to walk along the front of the house'
om	achter .. om	achter het huis om lopen 'to walk around the back of the house'
	buiten .. om	buiten het huis om lopen 'to walk around the exterior of the house'
	voor .. om	voor het huis om lopen 'to walk around the front of the house'
op	tegen .. op	tegen de muur op klimmen 'to climb up against the wall'
toe	naar .. toe	naar Peter toe lopen 'to walk towards Peter'
	op .. toe	op Peter toe lopen 'to walk towards Peter'
	tot aan .. toe	tot aan de grens toe lopen 'to walk up to the border'
uit	achter .. uit	achter de kast uit halen 'to get out from behind the closet'
	boven .. uit	boven de bomen uit steken 'to stick out above the trees'
	onder .. uit	onder haar jas uit steken 'to stick out from under her coat'
	tussen .. uit	tussen de papieren uit steken 'to stick out from between the papers'
	voor .. uit	voor de optocht uit lopen 'to walk in front of the parade'
vandaan	achter .. vandaan	achter de boom vandaan komen 'to come from behind the trees'
	bij .. vandaan	bij de buren vandaan komen 'to come from the neighbors'
	om .. vandaan	om de hoek vandaan komen 'to come from around the corner'
	onder .. vandaan	onder de kast vandaan halen 'to get from under the closet'
	tussen .. vandaan	tussen de troep vandaan halen 'to get out of the middle of the mess'
	uit .. vandaan	uit de kast vandaan halen 'to take out of the closet'
	van .. vandaan	van de kapper vandaan komen 'to come from the hairdresser'
	voor .. vandaan	voor de auto vandaan trekken 'to pull away from in front of the car'

For completeness' sake, example (108) provides the same set, but now classified according to their first part.

108

achter .. aan/langs/om/uit/vandaan

op .. af/toe

bij .. vandaan

over .. heen

boven .. langs/uit

tegen .. aan/in/op

buiten .. om

tot (aan) .. toe

door .. heen

tussen .. door/in/uit/vandaan

?langs .. heen

uit .. vandaan

naar .. toe

van .. af/uit/vandaan

om .. heen/vandaan

voor .. langs/om/uit/vandaan

onder .. door/langs/uit/vandaan

It is important to note that not all complex adpositions are part of the set of circumpositions: the complex adpositions tegenover and voorbij in (109a&b) act as prepositions, and the complex adposition voorbij in (b') acts as a postposition.

109

a.	Jan zat tegen-over	de koningin.
	Jan sat opposite	the queen
	'Jan was sitting opposite the queen.'

b.		Jan liep	voor-bij	het huis.
		Jan walked	past	the house

b'.	Jan liep	het huis	voor-bij.
	Jan walked	the house	past
	'Jan was walking past the house.'

[+] II. Circumpositions versus PP + particle combinations: five tests

It is sometimes difficult to decide whether we are dealing with a circumposition or with a verbal particle preceded by a prepositional phrase. This is due to the fact that many of the elements in the first column of Table 10 can also be used as verbal particles, which will become clear by comparing this table with Table 9 in Section 1.2.4, sub II. Therefore, it is useful to design some tests that can be used to establish whether we are dealing with a circumposition or with a construction in which a verbal particle is preceded by some PP. In order to do that, we will compare the syntactic behavior of the two examples in (110). The phrase achter de optocht aan in (110a) is a prototypical case of a circumpositional phrase, whereas neerleggen'to put down' is a typical case of a particle verb.

110

a.	dat	de kinderen	achter de optocht	aan	renden.
	that	the children	after the parade	AAN	ran
	'that the children ran after the parade.'

b.	dat	Jan het boek	op de tafel	neer	legde.
	that	Jan the book	on the table	down	put
	'that Jan put the book down on the table.'

[+] A. Omission of the sequence P + NP

The sequence P + NP is an inherent part of the circumpositional phrase, and, consequently, omitting this sequence will result in ungrammaticality. This is illustrated in (111a). When we are dealing with a particle verb, on the other hand, there is no a priori reason for assuming that omission of the PP is impossible, and, as is shown in (111b), dropping the PP indeed gives rise to a grammatical result.

111

a.	*	dat	de kinderen	aan	renden.
		that	the children	AAN	ran

b.	dat	Jan het boek	neer	legde.
	that	Jan the book	down	put
	'that Jan put the book down.'

[+] B. Pronominalization of the sequence P + NP

The examples in (112) show that locational prepositional phrases can often be replaced by an R-word like daar'there', hier'here', etc.

112

a.	De kinderen	spelen	in de tuin.
	the children	play	in the garden
	'The children are playing in the garden.'

b.		De kinderen	spelen	daar/hier.
		the children	play	there/here

Given that the sequence P + NP is an inherent part of the circumpositional phrase, we do not expect pronominalization of this part to be possible. In the case of a particle verb, on the other hand, the sequence P + NP is an independent PP, and pronominalization is expected to be possible. The examples in (113) show that these expectations are indeed borne out.

113

a.	*	dat	de kinderen	daar/hier	aan	renden
		that	the children	there/here	aan	ran

b.		dat	Jan het boek	daar/hier	neer	legde.
		that	Jan the book	there/here	down	put

For completeness' sake, observe that R-pronominalization of the nominal complement of the circumposition is possible. The same thing holds, of course, for the complement of the preposition. This is shown in (114), in which the parts of the discontinuous pronominal PPs are given in italics.

114

a.	de optocht	waar	de kinderen	achter	aan	renden
	the parade	where	the children	after	aan	run
	'the parade that the children ran after'

b.	de tafel	waar	Jan	het boek	op	neer	legde
	the table	where	Jan	the book	on	down	put
	'the table that Jan put the book down on'

[+] C. PP-over-V of the sequence P + NP

The examples in (115) show that the two parts of the circumposition appear in a fixed order. It cannot be changed by PP-over-V of the sequence P + NP. The order of the verbal particle and the PP, on the other hand, can be changed.

115

a.		dat	de kinderen	<achter de optocht>	aan	renden <*achter de optocht>.
		that	the children	after the parade	AAN	ran

b.		dat	Jan het boek	< op de tafel>	neer	legde <op de tafel>.
		that	Jan the book	on the table	down	put

[+] D. Topicalization

Since circumpositional phrases are constituents, we expect that they can be topicalized, that is, be placed in clause-initial position, as in (116a). If we are dealing with a particle verb, on the other hand, the PP and the particle do not constitute a constituent and we therefore correctly expect it to be impossible to simultaneously topicalize the PP and the verbal particle; (116b) is marginal at best.

116

a.	?	Achter	de optocht	aan	renden	de kinderen.
		after	the parade	AAN	ran	the children

b.	*	Op de tafel	neer	legde	Jan het boek.
		on the table	down	put	Jan the book

The contrast between the examples in (116a) and (116b) is perhaps not as sharp as one would desire, given that examples such as (116a) often sound marked as well; it requires contrastive accent on the topicalized phrase, which suggests that topicalization of circumpositional phrases is only possible in contrastive contexts. The markedness of (116a) may therefore be due to the fact that the circumpositional phrase is not explicitly contrasted with another adpositional phrase. A relatively good example is given in (117).

117

		Over het hek heen moet je springen,	maar onder het hek door moet je kruipen.
		over the gate heen must you jump,	but under the gate door must you crawl
		'You have to jump over the gate, but to crawl under it.'

Since the PP is an independent constituent in the case of a particle verb, we correctly expect it to be able to topicalize if the particle remains in clause-final position, as in (118b). It would appear from example (118a) that circumpositional phrases cannot readily be split under topicalization.

118

a.	??	Achter de optocht	renden	de kinderen	aan.
		after the parade	ran	the children	aan

b.		Op de tafel	legde	Jan	het boek	neer.
		on the table	put	Jan	the book	down

It is probably not the case, however, that the degraded status of (118a) is due to a syntactic constraint on preposing of the sequence P + NP, given that wh-movement of this sequence is fully acceptable. This shows that splitting circumpositional phrases is in principle possible: the markedness of (118a) is therefore somewhat mysterious.

119

a.	Achter welke optocht	renden	de kinderen	aan?
	after which parade	ran	the children	aan
	'After which parade did the children run?'

b.	Op welke tafel	legde	Jan	het boek	neer?
	on which table	put	Jan	the book	down
	'On which table did Jan put the book?'

[+] E. Adnominal use

Since circumpositional phrases are constituents, they can be used adnominally, just like other adpositional phrases. The PP + particle combinations do not form a constituent, and, as a result, they cannot be used in this way.

120

a.	het geren	achter de optocht	aan
	the running	after the parade	aan
	'the running after the parade'

b.		de	plaatsing	op de tafel	(*neer)
		the	placement	on the table	down

[+] F. Absolute met construction

In principle, the distribution of the P + NP + P sequences in absolute met constructions like (121a&b) could also be used as a test: the circumpositional phrase can be used as the predicate in this construction, whereas the PP + particle normally cannot.

121

a.		met	de kinderen	achter de optocht aan
		with	the children	after the parade aan

b.		met	de boeken	op de tafel	(*neer)
		with	the books	on the table	down

This test is less reliable, however, due to the fact that some particles, like aan in (122a), can also be used as the predicative part of the absolute met construction. As a result, we cannot conclude from the acceptability of (122b) that over zijn kleren aan is a circumpositional phrase; see Subsection IIIA, for more evidence. For this reason, we will not use the distribution of the P + NP + P sequences in absolute met constructions as a test to distinguish circumpositional phrases from verbal particles preceded by a prepositional phrase.

122

a.		met	zijn toga	aan
		with	his gown	on

b.	met	zijn toga	(over zijn kleren)	aan
	with	his gown	over his clothes	on
	'with his gown on over his clothes'

[+] G. Conclusion

Table 11 summarizes the findings with respect to the five tests we have developed in the previous subsections to distinguish circumpositional phrases from verbal particles preceded by a prepositional phrase. The first row indicates whether the sequence P + NP can be omitted, the second row whether this sequence can be replaced by an R-word, and the third row whether it can undergo PP-over-V, that is, whether the word order is fixed or not. The fourth row indicates whether the sequence P + ... + P can be topicalized in full and the final row indicates whether it can be used adnominally.

Table 11: Circumpositions vs. PP + Particle combinations

	circumposition	PP + particle
omission of P + NP	—	+
pronominalization of P +NP	—	+
PP-over-V of P + NP	—	+
topicalization of P + NP + P	+	*?
adnominal use of P + NP + P	+	—

The five tests must be applied with care. More specifically, it is not the case that all PPs preceding a particle verb can be omitted, pronominalized and undergo PP-over-V; there may be independent reasons why these options are blocked. The PP + particle sequence in (123), for example, is fairly well behaved in that it gives a positive result to four of the five tests for assuming that we are dealing with a particle verb; it is only the pronominalization test in (123b) that fails, but this can, of course, be readily explained given that we are dealing not with a locational PP but with a comitative met-PP in (123a), which can never be pronominalized by daar'there'. Note in passing that the number sign in (123b) indicates that this example is acceptable if daar ... mee is interpreted as an instrumental pronominal PP meaning “with it”.

123

a.	dat	Jan graag (met Marie)	mee	reed.	omission of P + NP
	that	Jan gladly with Marie	mee	drove
	'that Jan drove gladly along with Marie.'

dat Jan daar graag mee reed.

pronominalization of P + NP

Met Marie <??mee> reed Jan graag <mee>.

topicalization

dat Jan graag mee reed met Marie.

PP-over-V

e.		de reis	met Marie	(*?mee)	adnominal use
		the journey	with Marie	mee

The PP + particle sequence in (124) gives a positive result to only three of the five tests for assuming that we are dealing with a particle verb: the omission and pronominalization tests in (124a&b) fail. One might use this as evidence for claiming that we are dealing with a circumpositional phrase, which would imply that positive results for the other tests are not sufficient for arguing against a circumpositional phrase. It seems more plausible, however, to assume that the negative results in (124a&b) are due to the fact that the particle verb toe zijn obligatorily selects an aan-PP; the failure of the pronominalization test would then be in line with the fact that PP-complements of verbs cannot be pronominalized either. This means that we should take the data in (124c&e) as sufficient evidence for claiming that we are dealing with a particle verb.

124

a.	dat	ik	wel	*(aan een borrel)	toe	ben.	omission of P + NP
	that	I	aff	to a drink	toe	am
	'that I could use a drink.'

dat

ik daar wel toe

ben.

pronominalization of P + NP

Aan een borrel <??toe> ben ik wel <toe>.

topicalization

dat ik wel toe ben aan een borrel.

PP-over-V

e.		de behoefte	aan	een borrel	(*toe)	adnominal use
		the need	for	a drink	toe

The sequence aan mij voorbij gaan in (125), finally, satisfies just a single test in favor of assuming that we are dealing with a particle verb. The first two tests give a negative result in the sense that omission or pronominalization of the PP results in the loss of the idiomatic reading, which may again be related to the fact that the PP is selected by the particle verb. The fourth test gives a negative result in that PP-over-V of aan mij is highly marked. Since adnominal use is excluded regardless of whether voorbij is present or not, we cannot draw any firm conclusion from that either. Therefore, the decision as to whether we are dealing with a circumposition or a particle verb that takes a PP as its complement completely depends on the weight one would like to assign to the topicalization test.

125

a.	dat	de lol	#(aan mij)	voorbij	ging.	omission of P + NP
	that	the fun	to me	past	went
	'that I couldnʼt see the fun.'

dat de lol daar voorbij ging.

pronominalization of P + NP

Aan mij <*voorbij> ging de lol <voorbij>.

topicalization

dat de lol voorbij ging aan mij.

PP-over-V

het gaan aan mij (voorbij)

adnominal use

[+] III. Application of the tests

This subsection applies the tests discussed in Subsection II the discontinuous sequences in Table 10 in order to establish whether they are indeed circumpositions. The tests will be applied in the order discussed in Subsection II.

[+] A. The sequence P ... aan

The examples in (126) show that the sequence achter de optocht aan behaves like a circumpositional phrase: omission and pronominalization of the sequence achter de optocht are impossible, topicalization of achter de optocht aan is somewhat marked but seems possible, and PP-over-V is excluded. Finally, adnominal use of achter de optocht aan is possible.

126

a.		dat de kinderen	*(achter de optocht)	aan	liepen.	omission of P + NP
		that the children	after the parade